I have a Windows RT device and prefer to use it with a local system account.

When upgrading the device to Windows 8.1 via the Windows Store, the system wanted me to switch to a Microsoft account. Well, I still did not want to switch. But what to do? There is no option to skip this.

Well, there is no obvious option, but a “hidden” one.

You need to be connected to the Internet to install the update from the Windows Store. The update itself takes a while. When finished so far, after some reeboots, the update asks you to configure some settings.

At that point, I have chosen the custom configuration – but I’m not sure if this is necessary for skipping the user account switch.

Anyway, after configuring the settings, the update asks you to confirm the local user by entering the password. After this step, it asks you to enter the credentials of a Microsoft account. You cannot cancel or skip this step.

But what you can do is to go back where you have to enter the password of the local user account, disconnect the device from the internet (e.g. by turning of the WLAN), enter the password, et voilà 🙂

The update, instead of asking you to connect to the internet before proceeding, finishes the installation and keeps the user account as is it was.